4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Cinnamon]

Ok, I will start of discussion on 'The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night Time' by Nark Haddon.

 

I must say that I was delighted when this was choosen,as it is one of my very favourite books. I love the story line, the characters are well written & it taught me something about a condition I knew little about.

I love how Christopher oversomes adversity & fights against what his mind is telling him, in order to presue his investigation into Wellingtons death. The author writes Christopher so well - you can feel his discomfort & confusion as he sits in the tube station for 5 hours before he can make himself get onto the train.

I also love the way his father is written - a man obviously struggling with coping with his sons needs. Love the way he stands up to the school Head who doesn't want Christopher to do his early maths GCSE,even though she thinks he will pass,just because the school has never done it before.

 

I would love to know what happened to Christopher next. Did he go to College & do his maths A level? Did he manage to live alone in a house free of brown & yellow?

 

This book is clever,funny & touching & I would recommend it to anyone.

 

The book to read this month is 'Midnight's Children''by Salman Rushdie

[ubereglu]

I really like it as a book. It's really informative about the condition and allows you to try and get inside his head and understand him. His fascination with numbers is extraordinary and its something I really liked about the book-especially about primes!!!

 

You do almost think in this book that Children with his condition don't get told everything they need to though, and it really opens your eyes as they will understand it.

[AnnieP]

I read this book whilst teaching a boy with Asperger's. It really helped me to understand how difficult life is for people with this condition and conversely, how talented many of them are. I thought Christopher was lovely and it was all told with such dry humour, you could weep for him through your laughter.

Thoroughly recommended.

I have read Midnight's Children too

[Christian]

I read this book a long time ago and absolutely loved it

 

Only just noticed that it is in the book club on here.

 

Well worth a read and definitely a 'keeper' on my book shelf

[little chickadee]

I'm just about to re-read it as it's been a few years since I read it (and loved it) My son is being assessed for Autism at the moment, so it will be very interesting revisiting it.

[chickencam]

I read this about two years ago after my Dad recommended it to me. He had read it whilst in hospital recovering from a heart attack. It was the first fiction book which he had read for about 30 years he is more of a manuals and maps kind of guy, but this really moved him. My Mum and ED then also read it and we all found it a fascinating insight into the mind and life of this boy.

 

We are a family with various social phobias and it made us all realise that this is nothing compared with how scary the world must be to autistic people.

 

I have nearly finished The Clothes on Their Backs and then I will start on Midnight's Children so I can nearly catch up with the book club. I have missed out The Kite Runner so one day a late comment might appear on that one too

[theherd123]

I love this book, a brilliant read indeed

 

Despite Mark Haddon not being on the spectrum he really captures what it must be like and the day to day activities that most of us take for granted can cause others severe issues/problems.

 

I agree Christian - a keeper on my shelf too!

 

Mark Haddon has written another book which i also enjoyed a lot called 'A Bit of Bother' - very funny

[clueless chick]

I also have read this book some years ago, its wonderful, well worth a reread.

[Snowy]

Oh my goodness - I picked up this book the other day from a stall giving books away! Thought I'd seen the title somewhere

 

OK shut up Snowy and go and read it .....

[Couperwife]

I really enjoyed this book

 

Ive read another one that is quite similar "the London Eye Mystery" or something like that.

 

Its interesting seeing the world from an autistic childs view.

 

I will be reading this again thanks whoever chose it (sorry cant remember)

 

cathy

x

[Egluntyne]

I loved this book. Read it a year or so ago.

 

I have a friend whose brother has Aspergers' (He's in his 40's now), and the book could have been written about him.

 

Uncanny.

[Tessa the Duchess]

I also read this book a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Really helped me understand this unsettling condition. I thought it was a genuinely original idea for a way of telling a story, much as I felt about Bridget Jones Diary and the Adrian Mole books.

Lovely book, highly recommended. I have also read Mark Haddon's next book, and I did not find it funny at all:shock: I thought it was terrifying and very depressing:(

 

Tessa

[Ms Marple]

I loved this book when I first read it two years ago. Both sons read it too and enjoyed it. I have to agree that I appreciated the insight into the condition itself which is useful as we have a couple of boys very similar in school. Does anyone recall the Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman film Rainman? Similar theme - I did not understand that quite as well until I had read this.

[Louise]

I really enjoyed this choice in fact I have read it twice

 

I started to read it early in case I struggled with it and I actually read it straight through in one sitting

 

I then read it again at the weekend so it would be fresh in my mind

 

It was an interesting insight on this type of condition it made you aware of actual feelings behind apparently bizarre behaviour 8)

 

It also explained how other people react to the behaviour the police were involved several times and there was little or no sympathy displayed he was just another disruptive teenager

 

I felt there was a hereditary aspect as the mothers writing and spelling hinted at a learning disability as well

 

The only thing I didn't think worked was the mother working as a secretary her English would let her down for that I would think

 

I found it interesting that he ran away because his father lied to him which made him scared but viewing it as an adult the fathers temper would make him far more frightening than anything else Because jhe was unable to lie it made it the worst crime above killing the completely innocent dog with a garden fork

[dogs and chickens]

I have not got round to reading this months book yet, however having read the other comments I am really looking to reading this. I used to look after a special needs little boy with this condition and I still see him (he's 15 now). I'm sure this book will open my eyes to him even more.

 

I have not got round to reading this months book as I had been feeling so poorly (with the pregnancy) I decided to read something I had read before so I would not get sucked in and loose sleep through wanting to reach the end!!! I have been reading all the Harry Potter and am now on the final chapters of the 7th book. I have never read them all in one go before and have stupidly got really sucked into the last book which I have read only the once before and stayed up till midnight reading last night, then woke up at 4 feeling hungrey and read the silly thing until 6a.m!!! I will be glad when it's finished! In about hummm an hour and a halfs time!

[jlo]

I read this book a couple of years ago and found it really interesting. I work at a court and come across youths with aspergers and it did help me to understand the different world view that they have.

 

I let my son who was about 11 at the time read it and then received a horrified email from a friend in America whose daughter (then about 13) had had it given to her. She had read the first few pages, taken note of all the profanity and decided that it was not suitable.

 

When I suggested that it was quite eye opening she did give it another go but was never totally convinced.

 

Maybe I was a bad mother letting my son read it. I haven't let him read " A Spot of Bother" yet so maybe I have double standards. I just don't think that it would be so relevant to him. I thought that that was sad and funny at the same time.

[Ms Marple]

I don't think you were a bad mum -our children differ in so many aspects. If you felt that he was ready then he was. He wouldn't have got to the end if he hadn't enjoyed it. The book as a whole needs to be taken in the context that it is meant.

[Couperwife]

I dont think you are a bag mum jlo

 

I dont think that there is anything written in the book that virtually all children would have heard by the age of 11.

 

there is so much said in the street, on tv, on the radio, on songs, by older family members, that it becomes "just another word" to so many children.

 

cathy

x

[MedusA]

I read this a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I haven't had time to re-read it yet but hope to do so soon. I found it one of those books you have to ignore everything else till you finish. Well worth re-reading.

 

To digress, two of my friends are currently reviewing children's books for their friend who runs an independent book shop in Ely. They recommended two books to us so DD and I are reading those at the moment. "Genie Us" and "The Name Of This Book Is Secret". Both worth a read for kids, but not really stretching for adults.

 

I promise to order Midnight's Children from the library and catch up with the Book Group.

[missuscluck]

This is a great book. Very well writtian and observant. My son has Asbergers, although very mild and no where near as bad as this.

A very good read.

[Cinnamon]

I dont think you are a bag mum jlo

 

I dont think that there is anything written in the book that virtually all children would have heard by the age of 11.

 

there is so much said in the street, on tv, on the radio, on songs, by older family members, that it becomes "just another word" to so many children.

 

cathy

x

 

 

I let my girls both read it at around that age,but there was one word is especially objected to.

It comes up twice,so I just went over it with a Sharpie

 

Some friends of mine won't even let their children read 'Harry Potter'

[little chickadee]

I've just re-read this and found it fascinating from the point of view of a mother whose boy is being assessed for Autism at the moment. My boy is much much more "normal" than Christopher but it was fascinating just the same. It would be interesting to hear from an Autistic Adult/ teenager how realistic they found the descriptions as Mark Haddon is not on the Autistic Spectrum himself.

 

Not much more insight than that at the mo as my brain isn't feeling up to it! But highly recomend people read it - it's not long and may make you think.

[Snowy]

Again, not one I would ever have chosen for myself if not on the book list, and not the best thing I've ever read, but I'm glad I did. Fascinating insight into the boys behaviour and how it is misinterpreted by those around him, and how he misinterprets them. Very clever, especially as the author is not himself autistic!

[dogs and chickens]

Dito what you have said Snowy. Not one I would have chosen myself but very interesting none the less.

 

Off to look up next months book.

[alih]

jlo both my daughters read it on my recommendation as it is a well-written and insightful book. They were 13 and 11 and although there is some bad language in there they live in a world where bad language is used- you know your child and whether he/ she can cope with these things. My girls both thought it was wonderful.